Actual
Southern California locations where "Grease" was filmed..[
Click here for an interactive MAP of all
"Grease" locations!]

"Grease" opens with a scene
of 'Danny' (John Travolta) and 'Sandy'
(Olivia Newton-John)
frolicking on a beach during summer
vacation - a romantic episode they'll later
remember differently in the song Summer Lovin'.

This scene was shot on Leo
Carrillo State Beach,about eight miles west of Point Dume in Malibu,
and about 100 yards west of where Mulholland Highway
meets Pacific Coast Highway &the ocean.
Tucked away on both sides of this small rocky peninsula are hidden caves.
(You can see one west-facing
cave behind Sandy in the photo below, during the scene where Sandy asks
Danny if it's over.)

The caves and the surrounding
beach area have been seen in many films and TV shows,
including “The Karate Kid,” and “That Thing You Do,” "Baywatch",
"Star Trek: DS9" and the “X-Files”.

(As you can see from the aerial
photos, you have to walk down stairs to reach this small
patch of beach, which is pretty much hidden away between the rocky points.)

Most of the early Rydell
High scenes were shot at Venice High
School, at 13000 Venice Blvd.,
in Venice, CA.

When the opening, animated credits stop, the scene dissolves from a cartoon
to an actual shot of the school.
We see the kids arrive at the school and meet their friends again after
summer vacation. These arrival scenes
were shot out in front of Venice High, with the camera looking south from
Venice Blvd.

(In the 2007 TV show, Grease:
You're The One That I Want, Venice High was used as
"Grease Academy", where the contestants were trained, auditioned
& were judged.)

In the photo below, you can
see the white statue of actress
Myrna Loy in the background. That statue
stood in front of Venice High for decades, until it was vandalized. It
was replaced with a new version in 2010.

The musical number Summer
Lovin'then begins, with the
boys listening to Danny brag about his supposed
sexual antics, and the girls listening to Sandy's innocent version of the
same romance. These scenes were
also shot at Venice High School. The
boys were in the bleachers behind the school,
next to the
track & field (with the camera looking north) - you can see the back
of the school behind them. The
girls were also behind the school, but closer to the main building (with
the camera also facing north).

(Incidentally, there are still bleachers there today, in the very same
position.)

The cafeteria/dining
area, seen below (with the girls dancing), is located just
northwest of the bleachers. It has had a roof added, so it looks
rather different today.

When Danny treats Sandy aloofly to impress
his friends, she is heartbroken, and goes off to a slumber party at
Frenchy's house to recover. While Sandy is getting her ears pierced in
the bathroom, Rizzo makes fun of her,
performing "Look at Me, I'm Sandra Dee". Later, the boys show
up outside the house in the car, and Rizzo
climbs down the drainpipe to join them. Meanwhile Sandy sings "Hopelessly
Devoted" in the back yard.

This slumber
party house is actually located at 4524 Kingswell Ave.,
in east Hollywood (just south of
the Los Feliz district), a block and a half east of Vermont Avenue, and
one street north of Prospect Ave.
You'll find the house on the south side of Kingswell. (When the boys arrive,
they are driving east.)

[ Warning: This
is a private home. Do not trespass on their property,
knock on their door, or do anything else that might disturb the residents.
]

( I shot the photo below in
2007. The house hasn't changed much in 30 years. )

In the drive-in
movie scene, Danny gets fresh with Sandy (prompting her to leave),
then Danny sings
the song Sandy (while cartoon hot dogs dance on the movie screen
behind him).

These scenes were shot at an actual drive-in movie. It was the old Pickwick
Drive-In, located at1100 W. Alameda Ave (at Sheldon Street),
in Burbank. (Not at the Studio
Drive-In in Culver City.)

Alas, virtually all of Southern California's drive-ins have disappeared,
and this one is no exception.
The Pickwick Drive-In closed in 1989 and was torn down. In its place, there
now stands a
typical suburban shopping center, with a Staples store and a Pavilion's
supermarket.
(It's in the Valley, just north of Griffith Park and Forest Lawn Hollywood
Hills.)

The "Frosty Palace" malt shop
was once of the few exteriors which wasn't shot on location.
Instead, it was shot on a fake street on the back lot of Paramount
Studios.

Paramount Studios offers a
guided tour where you
can stroll through their back lot.